Bristol 2050 – a grand plan with high hopes

Business leaders in Bristol have published their vision for the city. It’s all about breaking out of short-term political cycles and taking a long-term view, John Savage tells Clare Goff

‘In times of austerity what you need more than anything is great hope,’ says John Savage. With this in mind, he and his fellow business people in the west of England have set out a vision of hope for their region.

Inspired by Daniel Burnham’s 100 year vision for Chicago, High in Hope: 2050 is a grand plan aimed at tackling the persistent problems of Bristol and its surrounds – from low skills and worklessness to poor transport and ineffective governance structures.

Many of the ideas included in High in Hope, which has been published as a book, are, he says, obvious. They include a flexible education system to meet the needs of all, and an aspiration for a range of well-paid jobs at all levels. The plan calls for the prosperous and overheated north of Bristol to be rebalanced with the city’s more deprived south, and for greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by at least 80% by 2050.

Cabot Circus shopping centre in Bristol. © Cabot Circus

High in Hope also includes some magic, he says. A proposal to build a barrage over the river Avon would not only protect Bristol from flooding but also create one of the biggest water parks in Europe, while turning the area into a city-regional park would help reconnect the urban and the rural.

It includes ambitious plans for new governance of the region, calling for the introduction of a combined authority covering Bristol and its three surrounding authorities, and the election of a mayor for the west of England.

The book is the result of 20 years of conversations and consultations on the part of Savage and the organisation of which he is executive chair, Business West.

In the wake of the riots in the 1980s he and other business leaders came together to see what the business community could do to help tackle persistent problems. The Bristol Initiative, now part of Businesss West and known as The Initiative, partnered with the council and has been a driving force for change in the area, pushing through the building of the Cabot Circus shopping centre and the development of the harbourside in Bristol.

But, concerned that many communities in the region continued to suffer, Savage and his colleagues decided a more ambitious vision for the region was called for. ‘There has been £3bn of investment into Bristol but not much has changed for those who are excluded. There has to be a reason for that,’ he says.

Savage cites the short-termism of local and central government as a key reason for the lack of real change, and attacks the ‘embedded complacency’ of the region.

‘Local authorities often don’t want change, they don’t want aggravation. They are often not well supported by central government but we would support them. Short-termism is a great curse of Western society.’

He believes that a grand plan will avoid the problems associated with short-termism of political cycles and bring about a radically different approach to managing the public realm. Thus High in Hope takes the reader on a journey through the history of the west of England since the 1200s, to show how the region – one of the fastest growing in the UK – has expanded, and to help the general public imagine its future development. Showing, for example, the expansion of housing over the last 40 years helps visualise the anticipated need for the next 40 years, making a powerful argument against nimbyism.

‘It’s about showing people the benefits for the wider population and for the longer-term,’ says Savage. He would also like to see a ‘deal’ between local and national government to enable development that is joined-up and which takes account of the bigger picture.

High in Hope 2050 takes its cue from the 100 year history of Chicago put in place by Daniel Burnham in 1909. His Plan of Chicago proposed major changes to the layout of the city and new civic and cultural centres and, according to High in Hope, ‘allowed the development of a new order of opportunity’ in the city. While many of the social aspects of Burnham’s plan were rejected, his idea of a long-ranging holistic approach to cities is one that Savage and his colleagues want to promote.

The plan, launched in December, is the beginning of a conversation, rather than a detailed plan of action. Business West hopes that the community will add their input and ideas, with Savage describing High in Hope as a ‘Christmas tree on which people can hang their baubles’.

But the plans have not inspired everyone in the area. Bristol’s Occupy movement has launched an alternative Bristol 2050 ‘people’s plan’, using participatory processes to bring together the views of all those living in the city. Occupy Bristol claimed in a statement that Business West failed to consult widely outside of the business community for its plan and the movement also opposes High in Hope’s focus on economic growth.

Savage says that Occupy Bristol has misunderstood his vision and that Business West would be happy to have a conversation with the movement to try to find some common ground.

High in Hope is the beginning of a conversation and one that Savage hopes will continue and spread. Project groups are planned to help make some of the proposals a reality. For Savage, whose early ambition in life was to become a priest, the plan offers a means to rebuild communities and restore links between people that have broken down since the individualistic policies that emerged during the Thatcher era.

‘Being just individuals is not the human condition. We have to be concerned about the communities we live in and those next to us.’

Bristol 2050: the ten point plan

1. Agree and adopt a unified vision for sustainable growth for the city-region generating 300,000 new jobs and a further 200,000 homes

2. Support the concept of an elected mayor for the Bristol city-region, with the powers and responsibility to deliver on key strategic issues

3. Maximise business rate retention and pooling across the city-region, with greater ability to levy local taxes and greater control over use of funds

4. Support the setting up of Transport for Greater Bristol as a planning and coordinating body

5. Support the development of improved skills and education programmes

6. Extend high speed rail to Bristol, support port and airport expansion and strategic road access together with the roll out of superfast broadband

7. Support the development of an Avon barrage to provide additional road access across the Avon, energy generation and a new water park as a key entrance to the city

8. Pilot and support new, innovative programmes to help young people who are work ready

9. Pilot and support the concept of urban village schools, human scale education and Education Unlimited programme

10. Support and promote the development of the west of England estuary as a prime outdoor education and bird watching centre in Britain